Book 4, Question 21
Why Do Some Plants Eat Bugs?
A few plants live in soggy soil that lacks minerals. Catching a bug is how they grab extra nutrients, especially nitrogen. The plant still makes its sugar from sunlight.
From the book
Page from A Million Whys Book 4
More fun facts
- Like other plants, meat-eating plants get energy from sunlight.
- Eating animals gives them extra nutrients, so they can live in poor soils.
- In nutrient-poor bogs, plants have turned to eating animals again and again.
- Butterworts have gluey hairs that trap insects until digestive juices break them down.
- Some pitcher plant leaves fill with rainwater that traps their prey.
- One meat-eating plant leaves behind only the skin of a frog's feet, which scientists nicknamed frog slippers.
- Some meat-eating plants live in water and trap tiny animals in cup-shaped leaves.
Sources: Science News Explores, National Geographic Kids, National Geographic
Questions kids ask
Do meat-eating plants still need sunlight?
Yes. They make food from sunlight like other plants. Bugs just give them extra nutrients.